Origins of the English Language

Language is life. It is a bridge between land, society, and time. It is a definition of ones being, a form of entertainment, and a medium of expression. It is an ever-changing form of mutual expression that is unique to humans and humans alone. The history of a language is as vast as the language itself, showing distinct periods in change and development. English can be crudely shaped into three distinct periods: Old English (500-1100 AD), Middle English (1100-1500), and Modern English (1500-Present.) Each of these periods has experienced distinct changes.

English is part of the Indo-European group, which covers most of the languages spoken in Europe today. While there is no written record of Proto-Indo-European language, its influence on English can be readily identified. For example, the English word for father can be compared to the cognate word vater (German), pater (Latin), and padre (Spanish). Likewise, dissimilarity between languages that are not related in their roots is readily apparent. Consider the counting system of the Mungaka language, for example, in comparison to the English counting system: nyn, iba, ipe, ikwa, itan, intu, kwatat, ifom, swiwo, om; one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten.

Now compare the counting system of Danish to the counting system of English: en, to, tre, fire, fem, seks, syv, otte, ni, ti; one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. The similarities between Danish and English are as apparent as the dissimilarities between Mungaka and English.

In the fifth and sixth centuries AD the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes invaded the British Isle, each speaking languages that could be mutually understood amongst themselves. This language is known today as Old English (500-1100), which contained four dialects: west Saxon, Mercian, north Umbrian, and Kentish. Approximately half of all Modern English words are derived from Old English roots. Unlike Middle English, which can be deciphered by speakers of Modern English, Old English can no longer be understood without being extensively studied as a "foreign" language.

An example of Old English in comparison to Modern English is: "þus manige men modiglicran," which in modern English is "So many men, of braver bearing" taken from the poem Beowulf, one of the only remaining Old English pieces of literature still commonly known today.

As can be seen from the excerpt above, the spelling, sentence structure, and phonology of Old English is vastly different from Middle or Modern English. Old English contained letters that are nonexistent in Modern English, some examples being "Thorn" (Þ or þ), "eth" (Ð), "wynn" ( ?), and "yogh" (Z). The pronunciation of Old English was distinct from Middle and Modern English. For example, the vowel in "road" would be pronounced as a low back vowel-rad. Another difference between Old English in comparison to Modern and even Middle English is that it did not have a specific word order. Instead it used declensions to show what the word was doing in the sentence.

Middle English came next (1100-1500). While most people assume that Middle English is what can be found in Shakespeare, it is not. Middle English can be found in the Canterbury Tales. While not impossible to read, it is a laborious process to decipher. Middle English went through noticeable changes in pronunciation from Old English. The example of Old English's pronunciation of "road" above would change in Middle English to be the same pronunciation as Modern, though the spelling would vary per word.

Here is an example of a Middle English sentence, with the same sentence in Old English above it:

Fæder ure þuþe eart on heofonum

Oure fadir þat art in heuenes halwid be þi name;

While the first sentence would be unintelligible to a modern English speaker, one can guess by analyzing the Middle English sentence what the two say.

Another characteristic of Middle English is that of double negation, sometimes even a triple negation, such as the one found in Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales prologue: "He nevere yet no vileynye ne sayde," where nevere, no, and ne are all negation serving words. Double negation is increasing in popularity in Modern English, is more widely used, and has become an entire topic itself that expands far beyond the scope of this paper.

Today we speak what is known as Modern English, which originated with the Renaissance. Many English students are surprised to discover that Shakespeare not only wrote his plays in Modern English (1500-Present), but was also responsible for coining many common phrases that are found today, often as clichés.

One of the two biggest factors for separating Modern and Middle English would be the Great Vowel Shift (GVS). The main difference between the language of Chaucer and Modern English is the pronunciation of long vowels. Long vowel sounds were made higher in the mouth and the letter "e" at the end of words was no longer pronounced. While one can decipher Canterbury Tales visually, the reading of his work orally would be a completely foreign reiteration to the modern English speaker.

The language spoken from 1800-present times is known as Late-Modern English. The biggest difference between early and late English is vocabulary. Grammar stayed approximately the same, but vocabulary changed greatly. After the invention of the printing press in the late 1400's, knowledge of language became more common amongst the average person, eventually leaving behind the learning aspects of language and turning more toward the invention aspects of new word coinage, which later became the norm in what is now known as late modern English.

Below is an example of the same sentence in Old, Middle, Early-Modern, and Late-Modern English:

Fæder ure þuþe eart on heofonum

Oure fadir þat art in heuenes halwid be þi name

Our father which art in heauen, hallowed be thy name.

And finally, in Modern English: Our father who is in heaven, hallowed be your name.

As can be seen from the small example above, the changes in any given language are vast, distinct, and amazing. Language serves as distinct periods detailing the condition of the times, the evolution of a culture, and the assimilation of dialects. Language is, like mankind, universal, each morphing and molding and advancing, yet never ceasing to exist.